


It's exhausting missing you.

by lydiamxrtin



Series: RNM week 2020 [1]
Category: Roswell New Mexico (TV 2019)
Genre: Angst, F/M, Holmes Brothers, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Max and Michael talking about their lost loves, Teenagers, rnmweek20, roswellweek20
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-02
Updated: 2020-11-02
Packaged: 2021-03-08 22:28:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,210
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27354232
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lydiamxrtin/pseuds/lydiamxrtin
Summary: Roswell New Mexico Week 2020 - Day 1 • Prompt: “Love is overrated.”Michael and Max bond over the loves they lost and where the pain is worth it.
Relationships: Max Evans/Liz Ortecho, Michael Guerin/Alex Manes
Series: RNM week 2020 [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1997782
Comments: 2
Kudos: 29





	It's exhausting missing you.

**Author's Note:**

> ✨ It's Roswell New Mexico Week 2020! ✨
> 
> I wasn't sure If I was going to participate but I looked at the prompt and couldn't help myself! 
> 
> I'm going to try and do every day but apologies if I drop the ball, so without further ado Day 1!
> 
> -AJ

Michael swayed his feet as they hung off the end of his truck, his beer clutched between his hands. Michael felt the warm sun radiating down on his back, yet Michael still felt cold. Alex had been gone for a week.

7 days without him in his life and Michael was almost certain he would never feel warm again, no matter how much the sun shone or how much beer he drank.

"Where did you find those?" A voice said. Michael looked up to see Max striding over to him, his chin nodding towards the almost empty beer in his hand and the 6 pack behind him.

Michael scoffed, raising an eyebrow at Max, "You really wanna know?" he asked.

Max stopped just in front of Michael, letting out a deep sigh, "No," He breathed, slumping down next to Michael on the tailgate. After a moment of silence, Max spoke again, "Liz left," he said, and Michael could hear the understandable anguish in his voice. Michael kept his face neutral, tensing every muscle as to not reveal the truth. 

The truth is he already knew Liz had left, he had known that two days ago when he and Isobel had come to the devastating realisation that if they wanted to keep their secret; a secret they had spent over 10 years protecting, Liz had to be spent away. "She went to..." Max trailed off, waving his hand out in front of him, "Travel the world," he said, a small laugh escaping his mouth, but there was no pleasure in there.

Michael nodded and tried to push the image of Isobel influencing Liz out of his mind, locking that away with numerous other memories he wanted to forget but couldn't. "Good for her," Michael sighed, sipping his beer and finishing it off. Max looked over at Michael, hip lip pulled into a thin line. "After everything that happened some space if probably good," Michael assured, unsure who he was trying to convince and sure he was failing whatever the answer was. "It's safer for her Max," Michael tried to convince, leaning closer to his brother.

Max reached behind Michael and grabbed a beer from Michael's sixpack, twisting the cap off and throwing it to the ground. "Doesn't mean it doesn't suck," He bit, taking a long sip. 

Michael nodded his head, having no more words of comfort for his brother.

"I heard Alex Manes left as well," Max said, looking over at Michael, who kept his eyes straight forward, unsure if this time he could keep a straight face. "Enlisted in the army?" He said.

"The airforce," Michael corrected, still not looking over at his brother, blinking up into the sun instead.

There was silence, Michael looked over at Max who was still watching him. Max seemed to be thinking something over, and Michael had to advert his eyes again. No one besides Michael and Alex knew what transpired this summer, and he intended to keep it this way. "Somehow I can't picture Alex going to war," Max said with a small chuckle.

Michael could, it was the only thing his mind seemed to be able to conjure up at the moment. Images of Alex alone in the desert, explosions and gunfire surrounding him. 

"I don't think he had a choice," Michael lamented, his eyes focusing down at the beer in his hands, picking at the label. He muttered something about Maria telling him, earning a confused look from Max. 

"Soon it will just be us three left in Roswell," Max said, continuing to drink his beer. Michael couldn't help but laugh, Max turned to him with a frown, "What,"

"The irony, right?" Michael said with a smirk, "The three interstellar aliens are the only ones to stay," He shook his head, chugging the rest of his drink, throwing the empty bottle in the back of his truck.

"We don't have a choice," Max firmly said. Michael was going to argue back but found he didn't have the energy, his whole body feeling tired lately. "I don't know why she didn't say goodbye," Max softly said.

Michael did. 

"She had lost her sister, it wasn't personal Max," Michael reassured.

"I really..." Max cleared his throat, "I really thought we'd make it," He confessed.

Michael felt his chest constrict, the new beer bottle in his hand slightly cracking as his grip tightened. Michael remembered that feeling, that hopefulness; it had gotten him nowhere. "Yeah," Michael breathed, "Well sometimes things don't work out," He said. "We're aliens, their humans, it would never work," He finished.

Max scoffed, "Positive as always Michael," he sarcastically said.

"It's true, we aren't like them," Michael argued, screwing his face up in anger, "Playing human, relationships, it doesn't work, and it  _ never  _ will," Michael quickly finished his drink but held the bottle locked in his hand, needing to seize something.

"What about love," Max asked, and it took all Michael had no to laugh in his face. 

"What about it?" Michael argued.

"Isn't that worth the risk?" Max said, moving off the truck to stand in front of Michael, his arms thrown out to the side. "You know? What else is there?" He urged.

"Beer," Michael joked, grabbing his third bottle of the hour, going for a new record. 

"I'm serious," Max said.

Michael stopped before taking a sip, pulling the bottle away from his face, "We don't get love Max, after what we did," Michael said, sliding off the truck to stand in front of Max, motioning around him, "We don't  _ work  _ with humans," Michael spat, siping his beer and slumping back on the tailgate of the truck. 

Max nodded, shoving his hands into his pocket. He looked around before starting to head away from Michael, finally leaving him in peace. "Who knows," Max, who was now standing next to his own car called back to Michael, "Maybe one day, Liz will come back?" He said with a small smile. Michael felt whatever fragments of his heart being torn apart even more like someone had shoved his heart into a blender and had pressed pulse. 

Liz wasn't coming. "Maybe even Alex," Max added.

The blender spun again, and Michael was sure there was nothing left of his heart, his chest an empty, hollow cavern that showed what love and hope did. "Love is overrated," Michael declared, "You shouldn't count on it," He warned. 

The brothers held each other's eyes for a moment, almost like Max was thinking of challenging Michael's comment, and Michael was daring him too. In the end, Max got into his car, driving off and leaving Michael with the dust of the desert, beer and his thoughts. 

Love  _ was  _ overrated, Michael repeated. 

However, somewhere tucked away in Michael's mind, hidden behind locked doors was the truth. His time with Alex, what they had shared, was  _ anything  _ but overrated. It was the single best experience of Michael's life.

But Michael couldn't think like that, because Alex was gone and so was what they shared. So, Michael had concluded that love was overrated and he didn't need it. No matter how much he told himself it, no matter how much he drank, Michael wasn't sure he would ever be able to convince himself it was true. 

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading, any comments and kudos are greatly appreciated!💞


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